More information about Ukraine
Even before the start of the Russian war of annihilation against Ukraine, knowledge about this country was sparse in Austria. With a new project, the Paneuropean Youth aims to create offerings in this area.
Paneuropa Kyiv for Austria. Or in short: PEK for Austria. Behind this title lies a new project launched by the Paneuropean Youth Kyiv, as explained by its chairwoman Anastasiia Hatsenko. With the start of the full-scale invasion by Russian troops in February this year, many members of the Paneuropean Youth of Ukraine were scattered across various countries. While the young men are not permitted to leave their homeland due to the war, many young women have fled from the aggressor and are now partly resident in other European countries.
Thanks to modern media, however, communication between these Ukrainian Paneuropeans has not broken off; indeed, it has even been strengthened with those in the destination countries.
In the process, they had to realise that in many countries to which they had now fled, information about Ukraine is sparse or even incorrect. Russian narratives dominate the image, or there is simply little knowledge about Europe’s largest country by area. While Russia’s war against Ukraine has brought much new information, this was and is mainly war reporting. Much of the information being disseminated is in English.
This range of information is now to be expanded. A student who has learned German translates the information into German. Instagram is being used for the project. One image accompanied by a short text is intended to bring Ukraine closer to Austrians (and whoever else reads it).
She wants to promote Ukraine, says Anastasiia Hatsenko. It should not only be about the war, but about the interesting country of Ukraine. She specifically names information and cooperation as goals.
The project was launched at the beginning of September this year. In a first story following the presentation of the project, the topic of historical connections between Ukraine and Austria was addressed. Specifically, this was done using monuments to personalities who are also well-known in Austria.
The information offering can be found on Instagram, under its own domain pek.for.at
